In a nutshell since the players union is not recognized by the Labor Laws in Quebec the Hab players cannot get locked out and with a few steps and petition the Habs will have to pay their players with the current CBA.

if this nonsense does in fact occur, it puts the heat on at least one NHL team to get a deal going. so hard to make much from negotiations thus far, but if we don't see some meaningfull concessions from both sides in the next week, this thing could get real ugly.

It additionally occured to me that without ticket sales revenues the Candians owner would have to dig into his own pockets to pay the players if this happens. This just keeps getting better and better in my mind.

Quite interesting if this actually worked. Habs would have to pay the players salaries but they would have no one to play against and could not go play in other leagues. Also since the players salaries would be 100% loss of profit, would this loss have to be absorbed by every other owner in the league due to the current profit sharing rules or just to the Canadiens owners because there is no collective bargaining agreement?

It additionally occured to me that without ticket sales revenues the Candians owner would have to dig into his own pockets to pay the players if this happens. This just keeps getting better and better in my mind.

Quite interesting if this actually worked. Habs would have to pay the players salaries but they would have no one to play against and could not go play in other leagues. Also since the players salaries would be 100% loss of profit, would this loss have to be absorbed by every other owner in the league due to the current profit sharing rules or just to the Canadiens owners because there is no collective bargaining agreement?

Montreal can choose not to pay the players, the NHL then has the right to assume the player contracts and can lock them out. Then the NHL can then add a clause in the new CBA allowing them to assign the players back to Montreal.

According to Gary Lawless, the NHLPA is looking at doing a similar filing in Manitoba. Ontario's labour board has already rejected such a filing, not sure about the Canucks - the labour laws out here in BC are a confusing mess.

Outside of forcing the Habs' management to pay their players and possibly leaving the door unlocked at the rink, how does this change anything? The Habs wouldn't have anyone to play.

Given the fact that the owners have proven they are not all in agreement on some of the key issues (mostly big market vs small market) why would the rest of the clubs give a hoot if Montreal (or Calgary or Edmonton) ends up paying their players?